Hotels told to comply with green norms

According to reports, the hotel industry is a huge water and energy guzzler. The environment department claims that five star hotels in Delhi are consuming about 15 million litres of water per day and discharging about 10 mld, much more than the international standards for consumption in five star hotels.

To stem this violation, Delhi Pollution Control Committee and the environment department organized a workshop for hotels on Wednesday. “The emphasis of this workshop was to conserve natural resources. Hotels are among their biggest consumers and also major waste generators,” said a senior official.

DPCC has issued several guidelines and orders on installation of STPs for treatment of waste water. Green Hotel Guidelines issued by DPCC include use of treated effluent for non-potable purposes, installation of solar water heating systems , use of biogas plants and rainwater harvesting.

However, say officials, implementation of these guidelines leaves much to be desired. “Sewage treatment plants are missing in 16 hotels while 33 have rain water harvesting and 21 have solar water heating systems ,” said sources. The hotels have been asked to draft an action plan for compliance with the green guidelines and submit it to the environment department along with an affidavit within a month.